Photography Blog

Today in Dallas photo history – 1994: Jim Carrey does Dallas!

Jim Carrey was in Dallas February 3, 1994 on a publicity tour for his film ACE VENTURA: PET DETECTIVE. DMN staff photos by Paula Nelson

From The Dallas Morning News, February 12, 1994

THE “ACE” OF FACE – Jim Carrey is the man of a thousand grimaces by Russell Smith

On TV’s In Living Color, Jim Carrey snorts and whinnies as the bikini-clad, steroid-riddled female bodybuilder Vera de Milo. As the incompetent Fireman Bill, his face is one big burn scar. In his new movie, the box-office champ Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, his countenance is a living study in Claymation – beyond rubber.

In person, Mr. Carrey is a clean-cut, almost boyishly handsome 32-year-old who manages to give a funny interview without being “on.” His face, for the most part, remains calm.

Despite its hectic nature – lots of animals and slapstick – Ace was a smooth shoot, says the Canadian-born actor/comedian, and he has yet to be stalked by his sometimes notorious co-star, Sean Young.

“She was actually really cool,” he says. “As soon as she showed up on the set, in front of everybody I said, `We’re not gonna put up with any of your (expletive), Sean.’

She laughed, and it let the pressure off, because everybody was waiting for this witch to show up.”

Since Mr. Carrey’s manic talent isn’t the sort of thing that can be directed, the movie was fairly improvisational from his end.

“The scenes were written,” he says, “but a lot of the stuff - especially the physical stuff – was created on the set.”

Working his face with a plunger, one of the movie’s most surefire laughs, was the actor’s idea. So was taking a bullet between his teeth.

Mr. Carrey particularly misses a scene left on the cutting-room floor, a dream-sequence parody of The Birds.

Fortunately, considering that Ace Ventura co-stars a zoo’s worth of animals, Mr. Carrey is a major pet owner. He ticks off the members of his personal menagerie: two cats, one dog, an iguana, a rabbit, two parakeets and a South American tree frog.

Only one of the movie beasties proved a problem to work with.

“The squirrel was out of control,” says Mr. Carrey, going into a hilarious impromptu squirrel impression.

The filmmakers used peanut butter on a stick to get the animal to stand up, says the actor.

“You don’t want to get near him, because he’ll claw you to pieces,” he says. “Once that peanut butter was gone – man, look out, because that thing was like a Tasmanian devil.”

Some Ace Ventura reviewers are comparing Mr. Carrey’s highly physical shtick to that of a young Jerry Lewis. The actor doesn’t mind.

“It’s great,” he says. “I used to be psychic about Jerry Lewis when I was a kid.”

But his real comic inspiration, Mr. Carrey says, was The Dick Van Dyke Show – “because it was brilliantly written and full of great physical comedy.”

In the midst of his TV and movie career, Mr. Carrey still finds time for stand-up concert dates.

“It’s a chance for me to kind of keep connected to what’s real,” he says, “because if you get stuck behind movie cameras all the time, after a while, the reaction isn’t the same, it’s not real.

“It (the stage) is where you create. Standing up in front of 3,000 people, you’re forced to come up with something. . . . You force yourself out on a limb that way.”

The comedian counts his early comedy-club experiences as invaluable, even the worst of them.

“It was like starting over in show business every night,” he says, “getting cursed out by the audience and all that. I had some wild nights.”

With Ace a hit, another movie (The Mask) slated for August release and talk of an Ace sequel, there’s also still In Living Color, a Fox show that has lost most of its original writers and producers in the last few years.

“If I spent all my time censoring myself, I’d be a lot less creative,” he says.

Mr. Carrey concedes that one rejected idea might have been too much for Middle America to stomach.

The taboo character was “a ventriloquist at anti-abortion rallies,” says the actor. “He has a fetus puppet named Feety, and their rap is that they argue back and forth about, `Is Feety really a human life yet or what?’ ” He slips into character.

“Well, you don’t look human,” argues the ventriloquist.

“Well, I would if you’d give me a couple of months, you heartless (expletive)!” snaps the puppet.

The idea never made it past In Living Color producer/star Keenan Ivory Wayans, who told Mr. Carrey, “Homey, they will burn down the studio.”

“He did not want to touch that one, which was probably right.”

Mr. Carrey continues to fight for another of his In Living Color creations, a Vietnam-veteran kid-show host named Scary Larry.

“Instead of The Land of Make-Believe, he goes to places like Flashback Land, where you hear the helicopters coming,” says Mr. Carrey. “He has a sock puppet character named Sockowski, and he’s the one that’s always flipping out, going, `We’re all gonna die!’
He’s the one that wants to rape the villagers and all that stuff.”

Fox is resisting, Mr. Carrey says, which is one reason he says he has no interest in his own show, even on a freer cable station.

“The frustrating thing about television,” he says, “is that 90 percent of it is fast food.”

But, ah, the movies.

Mr. Carrey hopes that the success of Ace Ventura will help his next one, The Mask, which he describes as “a Jekyll and Hyde story” based on “a very, very dark comic book.”

And then, of course, you can bet the farm that there will be an Ace II.

“I’d like to do the character again,” says Mr. Carrey. “He’s just so not-caring, so above it all – everything I’m not.”

When he’s done talking, Mr. Carrey has to pose for the news photographer. She wants the faces. And there he goes – into an amazing array of contortions too silly to ignore.

That’s Jim Carrey – recognizable at last.

Editor Picks

Ad:TopLeftBlog

Ad: Position1

Archives Title

Archives

ArchivesAbout This Blog

About this Blog

Photo blog is the official blog of The Dallas Morning News’ Photography staff. Our mission is to create an informal community of readers who are interested in all aspects of still photography and video.